Regulating infrastructure : monopoly, contracts, and discretion / José A. Gómez Ibañez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gómez-Ibáñez, José A., 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Contracting out.

Privatization.

Public contracts.

Government ownership.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (446 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the 1980s and '90s many countries turned to the private sector to provide infrastructure and utilities, such as gas, telephones, and highways--with the idea that market-based incentives would control costs and improve the quality of essential services. But subsequent debacles including the collapse of California's wholesale electricity market and the bankruptcy of Britain's largest railroad company have raised troubling questions about privatization. This book addresses one of the most vexing of these: how can government fairly and effectively regulate "natural monopolies"--those infrastructure and utility services whose technologies make competition impractical? Rather than sticking to economics, José Gómez-Ibáñez draws on history, politics, and a wealth of examples to provide a road map for various approaches to regulation. He makes a strong case for favoring market-oriented and contractual approaches--including private contracts between infrastructure providers and customers as well as concession contracts with the government acting as an intermediary--over those that grant government regulators substantial discretion. Contracts can provide stronger protection for infrastructure customers and suppliers--and greater opportunities to tailor services to their mutual advantage. In some cases, however, the requirements of the firms and their customers are too unpredictable for contracts to work, and alternative schemes may be needed. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments 1. Monopoly as a Contracting Problem 2. The Choice of Regulatory Strategy Part I. Regulatory Politics and Dynamics 3. The Behavior of Regulatory Agencies 4. Capture and Instability: Sri Lankas Buses and U.S. Telephones 5. Incompleteness and Its Consequences: Argentinas Railroads 6. Forestalling Expropriation: Electricity in the Americas Part II. Contract versus Discretionary Regulation 7. The Evolution of Concession Contracts: Municipal Franchises in North America 8. The Rediscovery of Private Contracts: U.S. Railroad and Airline Deregulation--with John R. Meyer 9. Price-Cap Regulation: The British Water Industry Part III. Vertical Unbundling and Regulation 10. The Trade-off in Unbundling: Competition versus Coordination 11. Regulating Coordination: British Railroads 12. Designing Capacity Markets: Electricity in Argentina--with Martín Rodríguez-Pardina 13. The Prospects for Unbundling 14. The Future of Regulation Notes Index Regulating Infrastructure: Monopoly, Contracts and Discretion is a book that merges the modern economics of the firm with traditional regulatory concerns in an original and provocative way. It is a valuable contribution to the literature that should be read by anyone concerned with redefining regulation for the new Century.--Michael E. Levine, Yale Law School

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

1 Monopoly as a Contracting Problem

2 The Choice of Regulatory Strategy

I Regulatory Politics and Dynamics

3 The Behavior of Regulatory Agencies

4 Capture and Instability: Sri Lanka’s Buses and U.S. Telephones

5 Incompleteness and Its Consequences: Argentina’s Railroads

6 Forestalling Expropriation: Electricity in the Americas

II Contract versus Discretionary Regulation

7 The Evolution of Concession Contracts: Municipal Franchises in North America

8 The Rediscovery of Private Contracts: U.S. Railroad and Airline Deregulation with John R. Meyer

9 Price-Cap Regulation: The British Water Industry

III Vertical Unbundling and Regulation

10 The Trade-off in Unbundling: Competition versus Coordination

11 Regulating Coordination: British Railroads

12 Designing Capacity Markets: Electricity in Argentina with Martín Rodríguez-Pardina

13 The Prospects for Unbundling

14 The Future of Regulation

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 361-417) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780674263901

0674263901

9780674037809

0674037804

OCLC:

434595719